Quick - you’re a tech-savvy librarian and an administrator shows you the article below. How do you respond?

Op-Ed Columnist - The Medium Is the Medium - NYTimes.com via kwout

Here’s another T.H.E. Journal story, about a Walden University study that says that teachers perceive that integration of educational technology promotes 21st-century skills.

It also states that teachers who have graduated since 2000 feel that their pre-service education programs do not feel adequately prepared to instruct using these skills.

Teachers Report Educational Benefits of Frequent Technology Use — THE Journal via kwout

Links to the executive summary and complete report can be found here: http://www.waldenu.edu/Degree-Programs/Masters/36427.htm

Be sure to view the study’s executive summary, which points out five myths:

1. Teachers who are newer to the profession and teachers who have greater access to technology are more likely to use technology frequently for instruction than other teachers.

2. Only high-achieving students benefit from using technology.

3. Given that students today are comfortable with technology, teachers’ use of technology is less important to student learning.

4. Teachers and administrators have shared understandings about classroom technology use and 21st century skills.

5. Teachers feel well prepared by their initial teacher preparation programs to effectively incorporate technology into classroom instruction and to foster 21st century skills.

There are so many questions wrapped up in this study … starting with our perceptions of Walden (a major online education provider) as a research university … whether or not teacher or administration perceptions are accurate … whether or not perceptions are an appropriate measure of use … whether the real question is “use of technology” or “results of use of technology” … where the librarians are … the amount of tech integration that could be happening if there were better bandwidth / support / equipment …

But it does remind me that school librarians can use the study to leverage themselves in schools. Here are three ways where I see that school librarians can step forward:

1. Work with administrators to develop a shared vision for what great ed tech integration and 21st-century learning looks like in schools.

2. Rearticulate our role as embedded professional developers to provide just-in-time evaluation and modeling of new technology tools.

3. Reaffirm our leadership role by helping teachers hone their own critical evaluation skills regarding ed tech adoption and the resulting student work.

What do you think?

Our district is spending a lot of time thinking about “21st-century learning” both with technology and without.  Science Daily is reporting that technology use can reduce critical thining skills, whereas reading and doing less multi-tasking continues to yield better benefits:

 As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children’s Digital Media Center, Los Angeles.

 

Learners have changed as a result of their exposure to technology, says Greenfield, who analyzed more than 50 studies on learning and technology, including research on multi-tasking and the use of computers, the Internet and video games. Her research was published this month in the journal Science.

 

Reading for pleasure, which has declined among young people in recent decades, enhances thinking and engages the imagination in a way that visual media such as video games and television do not, Greenfield said.

 

How much should schools use new media, versus older techniques such as reading and classroom discussion?

 

“No one medium is good for everything,” Greenfield said. “If we want to develop a variety of skills, we need a balanced media diet. Each medium has costs and benefits in terms of what skills each develops.”

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